Photo:
A burqa-wearing Muslim preacher who covers up her face in public has criticised
Islamic woman who wear the hijab as a fashion statement (Muslim fashion label
MOGA's rainbow hijab to promote same-sex marriage)

A
burqa-wearing Muslim preacher who covers up her face in public has criticised
Islamic woman who wear the hijab as a 'sexualised' fashion statement.

Umm
Jamaal ud-Din, a convert from western Sydney, railed against colourful headscarves
designed to make someone look pretty.

'When
you look at the new hijab fashion industry that's come out, we can see that the
concept of hijab is becoming very distorted,' she said on Friday night.

'We're
finding that the hijab is actually becoming sexualised now.'

The
fundamentalist Sunni religious instructor, a former Christian previously known
as Mouna Parkin, told her female audience the hijab went from being an item
designed to conceal a woman's beauty to being 'reduced to a piece of cloth'.

'It
doesn't have the same meaning behind it,' she said.

'We
are actually making the hijab into something which is all about how pretty you
are.'

Her
49-minute sermon, titled 'Are We Losing Our Concept Of Hijab?', criticised
Muslim women for failing to be sufficiently submissive to Allah in their choice
of clothing.

'It's
going away from being like that to becoming more of an expression of identity,'
she said.

'Now
the problem when you do that is that it's no longer about doing it for Allah
but ... it's more about myself.

'It's
more about who I am and who I identify myself as.'

Under
Islamic Sharia law, women are required to be dressed modestly and covered up so
men aren't sexually aroused by them.

Last
year, the woman who wears a niqab covering her face and ears, declared it was a
'major sin' for women to pluck their eyebrows because this displeased Allah.

Her
morals crusade continued on Friday as she slammed Muslim women who wore high
heel shoes and skirts to go with their designer hijabs.

'They're
dressed but they are like naked,' she said.

'And
when they walk, they walk with a swinging gait - maybe wearing high heels.

'It's
sad to say, you see it. Maybe they're wearing a bit of cloth on their head.

'You
can see her bottom with the new hijabi fashions, they're actually cut to show
her shape and she's walking and you can see her bottom moving from side to
side.'

Iran's
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says that he has found the answer to end
sexual violence against women – the hijab.

In
a speech published on the leader's official Twitter account, Mr Khamenei said
that Islam could have prevented the string of sexual abuse cases in the US and
other western countries that have inspired the global #Metoo campaign.

The
leader used the #MeToo movement to voice what he described as the virtues of
hijab against the "immodest" attire of women in Western societies.

The
use of hijab for women became compulsory after the revolution in 1979 and the
establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

"By
introducing hijab, Islam has shut the door on a path that would pull women
towards such deviation," he said. "Islam does not allow this [sexual
abuse or violence].

"You
might have heard, a few months ago, that a large number of western, female,
politicians announced one right after another they had been subjected to abuse,
harassment or violence at times when they were working in government
offices," he said against a backdrop of images including the Larry Nassar
trial and the Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein.

The
tweet sparked a flurry of criticism, as people took to Twitter to voice their
anger against the Iranian leader's comments.

"Hijab
is not Islam's proposal. That is a forced burden you put on women. To say the
victims were abused because their head was not covered is shamefully
disrespectful, just like your role as the self proclaimed 'leader' of Iran. Do
not pass the blame to the victims!" said one Twitter user.

Hijab
is not Islam’s proposal. That is a forced burden you put on women. To say the
victim’s were abused because their head was not covered is shamefully
disrespectful, just like your role as the self proclaimed “leader” of Iran. Do
not pass the blame to the victims!

—
Radin (@radinyad) October 4, 2018

Others
mocked Mr Khamenei for his proposed solution to a problem that has no
geographical, social or religious boundaries. "This is definitely the
funniest Tweet today," said one man.

It
did not end sexual violence. The latest publicised case was that of Zeinab
Sekaanvand, a female victim of domestic and sexual violence who was convicted
of killing her husband when she was a minor, according to Amnesty
International. The 24-year-old was hanged in Urumieh central prison in West
Azerbaijan province.

The
video also comes after protests against the compulsory hijab by dozens of
women.

“[Khamenei]
is trying to take the moral high ground. But within Iran, the government and
hardliners’ views towards women has very much not been in the defense of
women,” Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Centre for Human Rights in Iran,
told the Los Angeles Times. “He’s been calling for policies that roll back the
rights women have gained on their own. He is being opportunistic.”

The
disaster of countless sexual assaults on Western women—including incidents
leading to #Metoo campaign— and Islam's proposal to resolve
ithttps://t.co/ocpv1cUHPI pic.twitter.com/TV1TzFcra4

After
Malala and Bilquis, Salman Sufi to be presented with Mother Teresa Award in
India

Haider
Ali

OCTOBER
8, 2018

LAHORE:
Chief Minister’s Strategic Reform Unit former director general Salman Sufi has
been nominated for the prestigious Mother Teresa Award 2018 in India, based on
his extensive services for women empowerment and social uplift of marginalised
masses in Pakistan.

This
award will be conferred on him in Mumbai on October 21.

It
is the only award in the name of Mother Teresa recognised by the Missionaries
of Charity.

SRU
former DG Salman Sufi joins Dalai Lama, Malala Yousafzai, Priyanka Chopra,
Mahathir Muhammad, Bilquis Edhi, Neerja Bhanot and Abdullah Bin Zayed Bin
Nahyan, who have previously received this award for their services to promote
peace, harmony and social justice around the world.

Salman
Sufi is also the founder of South Asia’s first survivor centric Anti Violence
against Women Centre. The Mother Teresa Awards by Harmony Foundation honour
those individuals and organisations that promote peace, equality and social
justice and aim to encourage the cause of justice and peaceful coexistence,
while providing an impetus for society to imbibe these values.

They
are an initiative of Harmony Foundation, an organisation created by Abraham
Mathai in Mumbai.

Sufi’s
reforms were widely supported by the previous government led by Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz but have been placed on back burner by the new administration. He
was asked to leave his post due to his close working coordination with former
Punjab CM Shehbaz Sharif and his projects which gained worldwide recognition
are facing trouble at home in Pakistan. Sufi said that he dedicates this award
to all the women in Pakistan that face harassment and violence and hopes to
continue providing justice to them. He credited the political support of
Shehbaz Sharif that made his work possible in Punjab.

He
initiated the movement for passage of Pakistan’s first comprehensive women
protection legislation which had its own implementation mechanism called VAWC,
which is a one stop survivor centric model providing police, prosecution,
medical, shelter and post trauma psychological rehabilitation under one roof to
survivors of violence. The legislation was passed in 2016 and received fierce
criticism from the religious right wing. Sufi was attacked and pressurised to
withdraw the legislation but with the support of Sharif, the legislation
survived. Sufi went on to establish the first VAWC in Multan in 2017 which just
in a year resolved over 2,200 cases of violence against women and is a model
that gained international recognition for its ability to provide victims of
violence the immediate support and justice they need.

Sufi
is also credited with adding chapters against violence against women in Punjab
text books and starting Pakistan’s first and highly successful women’s mobility
movement called Women on Wheels, under which Sufi trained over 4,000 women in a
highly conservative society on how to ride motorbikes so they could be economically
and socially independent. The former government of Sharif supported the
movement and provided 3,000 pink subsidised motorbikes to women. Sufi went on
to legislate Punjab Women Protection Authority, first of its kind authority in
South Asia which was solely created to implement pro women laws and establish
VAWC throughout Punjab.

Sufi
said that he is concerned about the future of his landmark projects under the
new administration as they have been facing difficulties and wants the new
government to continue this work which is benefiting abused women of Punjab.

Hyderabad:
Mr. Zahid Ali Khan, Editor of Siasat Urdu Daily while addressing Du-ba-Du
program told that by imitating the western culture, the Muslim community is
facing serious problems. The only way to get out of this is that parents and
guardians should make themselves obligatory to train their children according
to Islamic principles.

We
should thank Allah (SWT) that due to employment opportunities in the Middle
East and the West, Muslims have become prosperous. The parents are spending
their hard-earned income in trivial things.

Continuing
his address, Mr. Zahid Ali Khan told that education sector had become very
expensive these days. For getting admission into medical college, the candidate
has to shell down Rs. 1-2 crore but the fortunate thing is that due to the hard
work of Muslim boys and girls, they are able to get seats allotted by the
convener.

He
lamented on the extravagant expenditure in marriages. He quoted a survey
conducted by Siasat in 1980’s in which it was found that more than 30000 girl
remained unmarried since their parents could not fulfill the dowry demands of
the grooms. He mentioned that in and around Tollichowki, there are many NRIs.
If they come forward, many Muslim girls could get married.

Mr.
Mohammed Moinuddin, President of Tolichowki Colonies Federation told that many
parents are uneducated but their daughters are highly educated. They find it
difficult to get qualified grooms. He applauded the efforts of Siasat and said
that due to Du-ba-Du program, many marriage alliances are being settled.

The
program began with the recitation of the Quran by Mr. Chand. Ms. Farheen Begum
recited Nath-e-Shareef. Mr. Zahid Ali Khan and Mr. Zaheeruddin Ali Khan,
Managing Editor of Siasat Urdu Daily met parents and guardians at various
counters and offered suggestions. Many persons who attended the program,
congratulated Siasat for telecasting the program.

The
program started at 11 a.m. which continued till 3 p.m. The registration of 200
girls and 150 boys took place. Mr. Shahid Husain conducted the program and
thanked the audience and guests.

I
was not aware of sectarianism in its theoretical sense when I moved from Qalaat
al-Hosn to the mostly-Alawite Al-Zahraa neighbourhood in Homs City to begin my
university education. I had never experienced love in its true meaning either.
It was not until 2003 that I came across both feelings.

The
situation appeared simple. On one side stood a Sunni girl (19) who was
extremely polite, obviously raised the Syrian mothers’ way we know so well. On
the other, there was Ibrahim (23). He was a joyous, generous and surprising
person.

I
had never met anyone like him. Ibrahim had golden skin, green eyes and a smile
I thought was the prettiest I had seen.

“I
love you” is an expression many girls dreamt of and its impact on me was much
greater than any evening prayer.

I
decided to keep my Sunni belief and that declaration of love that my Alawi
boyfriend repeated completely separate.

Ibrahim,
for his part, also tried to overlook the strictness of his religious teachings
and focused instead on the features of his Sunni girlfriend’s face. He would
systematically avoid any talk about religion when we met and would try to
distract us both from thinking about the future.

A
few months into the relationship, he took me to visit his parents in one of the
villages of eastern Homs countryside. His father who was in his 70s and had
lived in the shadow of sectarianism did not make an appearance. He could not
stand to see me in his house. Still, he allowed the visit and left. The rest of
the family—his seven brothers and their wives and children as well as his
mother—gathered to witness the utmost audacity of the veiled Sunni girl who had
come to meet them. This encounter went down in the annals of family history: a
young Alawite man and his Sunni girlfriend.

We
spent the next few months walking in Akrama in Homs discussing our future
naively. How will an Alawite man and a Sunni woman continue down this path?
Ibrahim would say he was ready to convert to Sunnism if he had to. I was
convinced he would, based on my conviction that the right religious conversion
is into Sunni Islam, whatever someone’s initial religion may be!

I
set plans for Ibrahim’s conversion into Sunnism in motion by collecting prayers
and supplications in an elegant notebook and repeating them daily. In my mind,
Ibrahim’s facial expressions were always constant. But, when I gave him the
notebook as a present, our sectarian upbringing manifested itself for the first
time. He asked me to take back my gift and never offer him something of that
nature again. The notebook only contained daily prayers and glorifications, but
it was the first trigger for an endless discussion about the identities of
Mohammad and Ali, and the nature of their relationship, all based on what each
had heard within their religious community.

I
accepted the situation and thought only about love. To maintain our
relationship, I had to manoeuvre on another front—that of my family, which was
made up of conservative Sunnis (at least when it came to social norms). My
mother was devastated by the shocking news that her daughter (a university
student) had fallen in love and was “going astray.”

My
father’s opinion was quite different. My love story did not unsettle him that
much, but my boyfriend’s sect did. I still remember his words, “An Alawite, you
bitch?”

He
said it with an anger and condemnation I had never seen in him before. I let my
father down with this brazen openness to a sect we fear and whose authority we
dread. We repeat stories of thuggery, theft and corruption about many of its
followers. We know the limits to our citizenship alongside them, and we know
that on a scale of importance, they always beat us.

We
are part of a subdued Sunni community that feels national inferiority not only
relative to Alawites, but also to all other sects, especially the wide
Christian entourage in Wadi al-Nasara [Valley of the Christians, an area in
western Syria that is part of Homs governorate, near Lebanon].

Until
the age of 19, sectarianism took a more benign form in my mind. It was limited
to noting the differences between us and our Christian neighbours in the
western countryside of Homs. As a minority demographically, we always felt
inferior to Christians (who were cleaner, smarter, more polite, richer and
backed by the regime). Oh, how we felt we were treated unjustly! Many of us
were convinced and insisted that the afterlife was ours and ours alone.
Everybody else was astray.

I
even remember the first time I entered Saint George Monastery [Deir Mar George]
in the village of Al-Mishtaya during a field trip. I was eight years old at the
time. My cousin approached the walls of the monastery and, together, we started
reading the fatiha [the first chapter of the Quran] because we had heard so
often that the stones of churches get nostalgic when hearing the Quran and the
name of God!

The
stories relating to Christianity and Christians did not end there. We were told
that when the priest drew the cross sign on the foreheads of all teachers, they
spent the next two days suffering from a strong headache. One notorious teacher
got off the hook, however, as she refused to let the priest continue with this
fake ritual.

Recalling
such situations brings to mind the proverbs my grandmother and other women in
the family would repeat. For example, “Let him be a muazzen [Muslim prayer
caller] in Zgharta! [a Christian region in Lebanon]”, in reference to a person
who stands out in a uniform environment; or “Mobilize oh Aisha” when a woman
generates sedition or is treacherous [Aisha was a wife of the Muslim Prophet
Mohammad]. My half-Lebanese grandmother who lived in a Shiite neighbourhood in
Lebanon would repeat this proverb, even though, had she thought about it from a
Sunni perspective, she would not have said it.

I
also remember my repeated visits to my sister who lived in the military homes
of Tafas, in the southern province of Daraa. I recall seeing clear signs of
that “hidden” sectarianism that spread fear in the Syrian public sphere.
Privilege was determined by one’s sectarian affiliation, and at the top of the
pyramid were Alawites. Sunni and Ismaili women who were married to officers had
more in common. They knew their value, and they acted accordingly. Even so,
their relations with their Alawite neighbors represented a hard-earned
privilege and went as high as the ranking of their husbands.

And
I cannot forget one of my sister’s neighbors who loved my sister to the extent
of considering her house “the house of God. In other words, a place so pleasant
she wanted to visit or “perform pilgrimage to daily”. Still, she did not flinch
when scolding her daughter in front of us and telling her “Damn that ominous
face, just like Abu Bakr’s!” [Abu Bakr was the first Muslim Caliph after the
death of the Prophet Muhammad].

All
this proves how deeply ingrained sectarianism is inside us. Even if we choose
to ignore this reality by not talking about it or naming it, remembering our
fellow Syrians proves how ingrained this feeling is and even opens the door to
freeing ourselves from such slogans as “The Syrian People are One”. Instead, we
should opt for a more genuine and balanced approach to identity, beginning with
acknowledging differences and their importance for our social composition. We
should ultimately realize that, indeed, there is a Syrian-Syrian conflict
stemming first and foremost from sectarianism, and it can only be resolved by
accepting sectarian differences, socially at least.

KUALA
LUMPUR: Muslim women’s rights group Sisters in Islam (SIS) has called for the
collection of new data and evidence to spur effective reforms on the issue of
child marriage.

The
group’s executive director Rozana Isa said the only data on marriages involving
young girls was based on the census by the Department of Statistics, the next
of which is due in 2020.

This
data showed that there were 82,000 girls between the age of 15 and 19 married
in 2010, compared to 53,000 in 2000.

In
2000, 6,800 girls below the age of 15 were married.

Rozana
said new information would play a significant role in educating the public,
including conservative groups who accept child marriage.

“If
we don’t look at the reality, we can only have discussions based on abstract or
anecdotal evidence. Evidence-based research is very important,” she told FMT
after a panel discussion on SIS’ campaign “Students Are Not Brides” or “Pelajar
Bukan Pengantin”.

The
campaign was launched in July in an effort to bring about a ban on child
marriages. It is supported by Deputy Women, Family and Community Development
Minister Hannah Yeoh, Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar and Klang MP Charles
Santiago, among others.

Rozana
said the elements that should be studied included whether children would
continue attending school once they were married.

“There
should be efforts to see how many married, school-going teens stay in school
after getting married,” she said, adding that many young wives or mothers ended
up dropping out of school.

Other
elements that should be studied include the rate at which young mothers bear
children, their employment practices and family-planning decisions, she said.

RIYADH
—2 Princess Noura University has announced that it will allow male researchers
and visitors into the university’s library on Saturdays.

The
university’s Dean of Library Affairs Hanan Al-Saqiyah said the university cares
about serving every layer in society and its library “is a beacon of knowledge
in various fields”.

“The
library will be open for male visitors on Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 04:00
p.m. The Kingdom’s Vision 2030 aims to offer every layer of society
accessibility to knowledge. The university supports national research and men
and women alike to pursue higher education and to publish research papers to
become important contributors to the academic sphere,” said Al-Saqiyah.

She
added the male visitors will have access to all of the library’s services
including borrowing books, photocopying, and access to its digital data,
publications and halls.

JEDDAH
— After Shahad Sari, who possessed gifted design skills, gave up hope on
completing her undergraduate studies because her admission application was
rejected by the only university that offers a fashion design program in her
city due to limited seats, Dar Al-Hekma University has offered her full
scholarship to study on its campus after seeing her creative designs on
Twitter.

Sari’s
biggest surprise happened after her friend posted her designs on Twitter and
posted a link to the designs on Dar Al-Hekma Twitter account.

Dar
Al-Hekma responded and showcased her works to Dr. Suhair Al-Qurashi, the
university’s president, who liked the designs and even recommended that the
student get full scholarship.

Al-Qurashi
said the university attaches great significance to fostering talented young
women, encouraging them to hone their skills and creating conducive environment
to nurture their talents.

“Shahad
is definitely a gifted student. I saw some of her works and was impressed. We,
at Dar Al-Hekma, strive constantly to attract talented young women and give
them creative opportunities and prepare them to be future leaders and
entrepreneurs. Our aim is to build their capacities so that they can play
efficient roles in social and economic development and serve the country in
line with Vision 2030,” she said.

In
recognition of her fashion design talent, the university has granted her the
Talented Students Scholarship. The conditions of the scholarship require a
candidate to have at least 85 percent marks in the qualifying exam and be
talented in her field of study. Sari met all these conditions.

Thanking
Dar Al-Hekma for this scholarship and Dr. Al-Qurashi, Sari said, “Dar Al-Hekma
is a prestigious educational institution with an innovative vision aiming to
build Saudi leaders, hone their skills and graduate students who are capable of
making a positive social and economic change.” — SG

Abu
Dhabi: The first batch of 133 students have graduated from Rabdan Academy of
Abu Dhabi to take up jobs in policing, intelligence, criminal investigations,
natural and man-made disasters and homeland security sectors.

The
students received their certificates at a graduation ceremony at Emirates
Palace hotel on Sunday. Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister
and Minister of Presidential Affairs, presented the certificates to the
graduates.

Students
at the academy are trained and prepared in different programmes that include
safety, security, defence, emergency preparedness and crisis management sectors.

More
than 500 fulltime students currently study at the academy. The academy aims to
build a generation of UAE nationals who can execute any challenging assignment
pertaining to homeland security.

Speaking
to Gulf News on the sidelines of the ceremony, James Anthony Morse, president
of Rabdan Academy, said: “The idea is to prepare young people of the country
for the challenges of the future. Not just training them for today, but for the
coming four to five years when they have to take charge in intelligence, police
and security sectors of the country. So educating young generation is key.”

The
batch includes the first two Emirati female graduates to receive the
certificate from the academy in crime scene investigations.

Sana
Abdullah Salem, 33, who completed a two-year diploma in crime scene, said: “I
am the first local [Emirati] woman who completed this course from the academy
and I feel very honoured. We were taught how to collect, protect and
investigate the criminal evidences, which include pictures and fingerprints.
For that we have to carry out investigations in the field,” Salem said.

Another
Emirati woman, Aysha Al Baloushi, who also did her diploma in crime scene,
said: “Completing this course with excellence is an honour for me. We are
trained in-house and in the field.”

The
programmes, in which the students graduated on Sunday, include integrated
emergency management (how to work in case of natural and man-made disasters),
business continuity management, and comprehensive police station management.

“We
have a new master’s programme in intelligence analysis and at the bachelor
level, homeland security. We are really looking across homeland security
issues, which require the government and the private sectors to work together
to keep the nation secure,” Morse said.

A
graduate in the integrated emergency management, Mohammad Al Mazrouei, 28,
said: “My course is about natural and made-made disasters like hurricanes,
tsunamis, earthquakes, and [man-made disasters] terrorism, war and human
failures. We are trained about promptly and effectively responding to any
disasters whether it’s natural or made-made.”

Al
Mazrouei aims to continue his masters in the same field at the academy.

Rabdan
Academy

It
is a government-owned educational institution established to coordinate and
enhance learning outcomes for organisations and individuals in the safety,
security, defence, emergency preparedness and crisis management sectors. The
academy was officially established under Law No. 7 for 2013, issued by
President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan in his capacity as
Ruler of Abu Dhabi. It is accredited by the UAE’s Commission for Academic
Accreditation (CAA) of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific
Research.

KARACHI:
Half of Pakistan’s potential is in its women. Harnessing this potential is
essential for economic growth and social prosperity. While women have
traditionally contributed to the economy, especially in the agriculture sector,
they are often restricted from entering into other fields due to cultural and
social taboos. With the innovative use of technology, however, many skilled
women are now discovering their full potential.

The
internet has allowed women to earn a livelihood from the comfort of their
homes. One such platform that facilitates these activities is Sheops.

Sheops
is a women-only marketplace that allows women to buy and sell products without
the fear of harassment. It began as a Facebook community and proved to be such
a hit that the business set up its own website. Here, women can now open shops
to sell food, fashion, beauty, lifestyle, jewellery, cosmetics, clothes and
handicraft items. When they receive orders, they have to simply prepare them
and a courier service representative collects the order from their house and
delivers it to the customer. After the order is delivered, the amount is
transferred into the bank accounts. More than 100 women started their business
from scratch and are now smoothly running their businesses and supporting their
families.

It
is important to note that to use this website, women must have their own
Facebook profiles. Sheops Facebook page has more than 103,000 members from all
over the world, including Britain, Canada, Gulf States and UAE, and while their
site handles most of the business, the page is still used by many. Also, the
online community ensures that only women operate in the community.

Balochistan’s
karhai

Another
noteworthy initiative that has helped to empower women is Doch, a company run
by Deedar Mengal. It is an online company from Balochistan that sells
handcrafted products.

Doch
sells bags, shirts, waistcoats, jewellery and other items prepared by women
that promote Baloch culture within Pakistan and helps Baloch women make a
living.

According
to Mengal, Balochistan’s karhai[embroidery] and small mirror work is well known
across the world. Doch has embedded the embroidery in fashion, selling these
handmade products online to rich buyers who are willing to pay the price. Doch
also organises workshops and training camps to promote the Balochi embroidery.
Cities like Mastoong, Qallat, Khuzdar and Dera Bugti are famous for the
embroidery. These products are sold in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.

The
company was founded in 2006 and now has over 3,000 regular customers. Around
120 Balochis are involved in preparing these products. They earn up to Rs15,000
on a monthly basis. CarAndaaz has donated a grant of Rs10,000,000 which they
used to buy machinery and other goods to expand their business.

Improving
living standards

Another
initiative that aims to improve the living standards of households is Fine
Traders. The founder, Shabana Jamshed, saw her father struggle to raise his
eight girls and saw the people around her struggle to buy even the most basic
items. She was adamant to find a solution.

Jamshed
tried raising the amount for her business through small committees and gathered
items to sell. Just a year ago, she started selling dinner sets, fans, water
coolers, bed sheets, quilts and other items via a Qingqi rickshaw in the
poverty-stricken neighbourhoods of Lahore. These items are usually worth up to
Rs7,000 to Rs8,000 so that they can be easily paid off in six months’ time.
Also, keeping in mind the income of her customers, instalments are collected on
daily or weekly basis. Jamshed charges a mark-up to keep her business running.
So far, 99% of her customers have paid on time.

Jamshed
started her business from Rs500,000 and has now sold items worth
Rs1,000,000. Her business has become
structured and now serves over 2,300 customers. Her successful business model
attracted the attention of an American company, Storm Harbour, that offered to
invest, but the deal did not work out. However, negotiations with local
investors are still ongoing under the umbrella of another
entrepreneurship-encouraging organisation called CarAndaaz. If successful,
services will be made available in nearby areas of Lahore and other smaller
cities across Punjab.

PESHAWAR:
The newly elected President of Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WCCI)
Azra Jamshed said she was aiming to provide exposure to women entrepreneurs.

Talking
to The News, Azra Jamshed said she wanted to encourage skilled women to market
their products and generate income. She said the WCCI would help women to
increase their income by improving their skills. Azra Jamshed urged the women
artisans to come forward and avail the opportunities being offered by the
government.

"The
objective of the WCCI is to connect, support and empower women to bring
prosperity," she added. Azra Jamshed pointed out that the State Bank of
Pakistan, First Women Bank and other institutions supported women entrepreneurs
to start their businesses. She added that recently WCCI and Tourism Corporation
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa jointly arranged market linkage convention in
Gilgit-Baltistan.

"The
event aimed at exploring the beauty of the country and encouraging women
entrepreneurs belonging to various areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa," she
added. Azra Jamshed said they would welcome the tribal elders and seek their
support and cooperation to encourage women from the erstwhile tribal areas to
set up their businesses.

However,
she noted that the recent one percent increase in interest rate by State Bank
of Pakistan affected the business community and increased inflation. She asked
the government to adopt business-friendly policy for the small entrepreneurs.

Azra
Jamshed informed that WCCI had trained many womenin cooking, baking, sewing and
online businesses and was now planning to start driving classes for females.

WCCI
Founder Fitrat Ilyas Bilour said the Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry was
established in 2010 to safeguard the interests of women entrepreneurs in the
province. She added that currently WCCI had 400 members.

Fitrat
Bilour said that for potential women entrepreneurs, the chamber aimed to
provide one-window facility. "For established businesswomen, the chamber
would provide a forum for debate and discussion and opportunity to interact
with local and international counterparts," she added.

She
said although women were very enthusiastic about every sector of life, they
cannot move without the support of male family members. She said WCCI had made
a plan to encourage tribal women and support them to utilise their abilities.

Fitrat
Bilour said tribal women were talented but they were restricted to their houses
and had no platform to utilise their abilities. She claimed there was no
concept in tribal region to make national identity cards for women.

"The
WCCI members have decided that they would convince the tribal elders to allow
the women to have identity cards," she added. She mentioned that there
were 12 women chamber all over the country and all were linked with each other.

On
Friday, October 5, 2018, female teachers participated in protest gatherings in
Tehran, Kazerun and Alborz Province on the occasion of the International
Teachers Day. The role of female teachers in these gatherings was prominent.

In
Tehran, teachers and educators gathered in Goftegoo Park on Gisha Ave. where
teachers held up posters of imprisoned teachers Esmail Abdi, Mohammad Habibi,
and Mahmoud Beheshti Langroodi, demanding their immediate release.

Mrs.
Khadijeh Pak Zamir, the wife of imprisoned teacher Mohammad Habibi, told the
gathering, "I hope that all teachers, freedom-lovers and justice-seekers
will soon be released from prison."

Mohammad
Habibi is a teacher and a human rights activist who is currently imprisoned in
the Greater Tehran’s Central Penitentiary.

The
International Teacher's Day ceremony in Alborz Province was held with the
participation of male and female teachers along with the family of Esmail Abdi,
an imprisoned teacher and leader of the Iranian Teachers' Trade Association
(ITTA).

In
Kazerun, a group of teachers and educators gathered outside the Department of
Education in this city. Female teachers were active in this protest.

On
Saturday, October 6, and Sunday, October 7, 2018, a group of employees of the
Edalat Stocks Cooperative gathered in front of the building of the Ministry of
Economy and Finance in Tehran and held a protest rally against the uncertainty
about their job status and wage arrears. In this gathering, the active presence
of women was impressive.

At
the same time, a group of male and female students of the Farhangian-e Kowsar
University in Yasuj held a protest rally opposite the Yasuj Governorate, in
protest to the deplorable sanitary conditions of the dormitories.

In
another protest gathering on Friday evening, October 5, 2018, a crowd of women
and youth in Kermanshah, who witnessed the arrest of a young person and the
acts of violence by law enforcement officers, chanted out their protest with
slogans of "Shame, Shame!" and forced the police to flee the scene.

Iranian
women have actively participated in more than 430 protests between March and
September 2018.

Nadia
Murad, a young Yazidi woman from Iraq, and Denis Mukwege, a physician from the
Democratic Republic of Congo, won the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize.

The
two winners have been recognized for their efforts to end the use of sexual
violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.

The
head of the Nobel Committee said the two played a crucial role in the fight
against such crimes.

Nadia
Murad, 25, a young Yazidi woman who managed to escape the Islamic State (ISIS),
is now working to end human trafficking and sexual violence.

Nadia
Murad along with thousands of other Yazidi women were kidnapped and used for
sex slavery by ISIS in 2014. Her six brothers and mother were murdered.

Nadia
eventually became the face for telling the story of Yazidi women. Her being
awarded the Nobel Prize can once again bring back attention to the Yazidi
community, which, like many elsewhere in the areas released from ISIS, is
struggling with the bitter aftermath of the war and the presence of that group.

The
day after she fled from Mosul, Nadia Murad went to her brother’s house in a
village near the Duhok of Iraqi Kurdistan. Until that day, no one had not heard
of the story of the Yazidi women who had fallen into the hands of ISIS. But
Nadia did interviews and told her story publicly, saying she wants everyone to
know what happened to them and that her story to reach every woman.

Denis
Mukwege, a gynecologist and surgeon from the Democratic Republic of Congo,
specializes in the treatment of victims who have been raped by rebel forces. He
has treated close to 300 thousand victims of rape and sexual violence.

The
63-year-old physician has won a number of international awards, including the
UN Human Rights Prize in 2008. He was also named African of the Year in 2009.
According to The Globe and Mail, Mukwege is likely the world's leading expert
on repairing injuries of rape.